To the Future
by britsitcomfan
Summary: A selection of chapters, each showing a different aspect/event in Robbie and Laura's life and future together. A bit of romance/fluff/angst/hurt/comfort. Chapters are in chronological order, the first being set a few months after series 7.
1. Understanding

Author's Note: Basically, I noticed that Laura wears a ring on her right hand ring finger; and, seeing as we're never told much about her past (except in The Falling Darkness), I decided to create a story behind it. Enjoy! R&R would be lovely. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Lewis, or any of its characters.

Robbie and Laura were cuddled on her sofa one evening watching the telly, after enjoying a takeaway, when he finally found the courage to bring up something that had been on his mind for... well, years really. Ever since he'd notice the diamond ring she wore on the fourth finger of her right hand. "Laura pet, can I ask you something?" "Of course you can." He took hold of her right hand and looked down at it, trying to find the best way to ask what he wanted to ask. However, she heard his question, before he'd voiced it. He watched as she stood up and kissed him, before leaving the room. She came back a couple of minutes later, holding a framed photograph from the bookshelf, and handed it to him.

She sat back down next to him, and he lay his arm across her shoulders. Robbie was looking down at a photograph of Laura and a man, not unlike the one of him and Val, and of him and Laura, on the bookshelf in his office and at his flat. It was a photograph he'd seen before in _her_ office, next to the one of the two of them. He'd never known who it was, and had always assumed it was a member of her family, but then again he'd never asked. Sensing the tension in her, Robbie pulled Laura close to him and encouraged her to talk.

"I met Steve at a gig in the summer after college. That year that I got the mumps..." Robbie nodded, knowing exactly which year she was talking about. "I managed to break my ankle during the encore. My friends and I had all gone to celebrate being back together for the summer, and they were all completely plastered. Steve and his friends were standing nearby, and I stumbled into him when I fell. Luckily he was their designated driver, so was completely sober. He drove me to the hospital because my friends were completely hopeless." She laughed at the memory of the two of them on the floor in the middle of the crowd of drunk people dancing around them. "He drove me to the hospital, and waited with me for 8 hours in A&E, then took me home. We spent every day together that summer. He made me realise that I was never really in love with Alec like I thought I was. He stuck by me as I worked my way through my training... I wasn't the easiest person to live with while I was studying." "I can't possibly imagine how the poor bloke felt..." She pushed him playfully and laughed. "Oh shut up!" Robbie put the photo down on the coffee table, and wrapped his arms around her. She took a deep breath and leaned into his embrace, before continuing. "We were planning on getting married, about a year before I moved here, but..." A tear dropped onto Robbie's chest. "Hey, love. It's alright." He kissed the top of her head, and rocked her gently, until she calmed down enough to speak again. "He was killed on 12th November 1993. That date seems to be engrained on my memory. I moved my ring to my right hand, but I've never quite been able to take it off." "Of course not love. I understand." "I got the job offer here in Oxford, and took it. I couldn't face the memories of Steve back at home anymore, and my time at college was the happiest I could remember being before I met him. So Oxford seemed like the perfect place to go."

He held her close for a while. All this time, she had been there for him, supported him through his grief. But he was completely oblivious of the same heartache she had been through nine years earlier. Supporting him can't have been easy for her. Having him as constant reminder of what she'd been through herself. "Do you mind if I ask how it happened?" She smiled sadly and kissed him. "Car crash." "I'm sorry pet." "It's not your fault, Robbie." "No, I mean, I'm sorry that I've put all of my grief on you over the years, when you were battling with your own." Laura wrapped her arms around his waist. "You weren't to know sweetheart. I've only ever spoken to people back home about it. The people that already knew. I've never been comfortable with the sympathy I receive from people, so I figure that if less people know, the less sympathy I'll have to deal with. It just gets me more down about it all." "You could've said something though? After... after Val?" "I nearly did. But then I remembered that, when I lost Steve, the least helpful thing anyone ever said to me was 'I know how you feel.'. Because, at the end of the day, they didn't. Everyone's grief is different, and that was the last thing you needed from me. You just needed a friend." He bundled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. "You needed one too." They sat silently together for a while, both comforted by each other's presence.

Eventually, Laura spoke. She didn't lift her head, but merely spoke into Robbie's chest. "You're the only man I've ever felt able to love in the same way that I loved Steve. I thought that, when I moved to Oxford, it would be an opportunity for me to start over. Men back home always felt uncomfortable dating me, because of my past, and I suppose I never felt comfortable either. And I've tried, I've really tried to move on over the years. But It wasn't until after Simon Monkford's trial. You seemed to change. We grew a lot closer. And I think that was when I realised that, it wasn't the fact that I wasn't ready to move on, it was that I'd never found someone I wanted to move on with. And there you were. Someone who knows me, and understands my grief. Even though you weren't aware of it until now." He hooked his finger under her chin, and encourage her to look up. He kissed her softly, before pulling her close again. "You've been so patient with me, Laura. And it's because of your patience that I've grown to love you so much." He couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he felt her grin against his chest. "I've never understood how you were able to be so patient with me, but now I do. I'd always assumed that you were single because you'd never been lucky enough to find the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. But you had. You'd just had them taken from you, like I had." She didn't say anything else, and He didn't force her to. He just tightened his arms around her as he felt her tears seep through his shirt. Laura sat up and dried her eyes with her jumper sleeve. "Sorry." "It's alright pet. Let it all out." And she did. She curled up close to Robbie's side, and sobbed into his stomach, until his shirt was saturated.

Laura wasn't sure why she'd never told Robbie about her past. He was her future after all, and she thought he had a right to know; but she just didn't know how to approach it. But now she was glad that she didn't have to. He had opened the door to that particular conversation, and she knew that, now Robbie knew about Steve, he would be there for her, just like she had been there for him for all those years.


	2. The Family Visit

**Author's Note: A little fluffy piece about Ken and Laura's first introduction. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lewis or any of its characters**

Laura and Robbie were sat in her living room when the door bell went. They both knew who was on the other side, and were both nervous beyond belief, about Ken's visit. Robbie hadn't seen his son in person since he went to live in Australia, and Laura had only met him the once. At his mother's funeral. They were fully aware of each other's reservations about this visit. Robbie stood and held his hands out towards Laura. Once she had placed her hands in his, she stood up, he kissed her, and they walked towards the door.

••••••••

On the other side of the door, Tim, and Lyn, with their son resting on her hip, stood with Ken, who they had picked up from the airport on their way down from Manchester. Ken was biting very nervously on his thumb. He hadn't seen his father in person since moving to Australia, and he'd only met his new partner once. At their mother's funeral. He was over the moon for his dad. He was finally happy again; something that had become evident in their phone calls over the last few months, and he was both excited and terrified about meeting the woman he had to thank for that.

••••••••

As soon as Robbie opened the door, the little boy stretched his arms out to Laura. "G'ama!". The first time he and Laura met, he had called her 'G'ama' and, seeing as neither Lyn or Robbie (or Laura herself) objected, the name stuck. Lyn passed him over to Laura, who squeezed him tight, and kissed him hard on the cheek. "Hello little man!" He wrapped his little arms around her neck as she rest him on her hip, barely looking up as his granddad ruffled his hair and greeted him. Robbie and Laura stepped aside to let the three other adults into the house.

"I wouldn't worry about it Robbie. He's been the same with me recently. Turning into a proper little lady's man." Tim grinned at his father-in-law and shook his hand, after putting down the bags he had been carrying. "Aaah, you went through the same phase when you were a bairn Ken." He greeted his son with a big bear hug, and then did the same to his daughter. "It's great to see you both together!" "It's great to see you too dad." Lyn smiled. Noting that these were the first proper words her brother had spoken since they'd picked him up 2 hours ago.

Laura eventually managed to pass their grandson over to Robbie, and lead Ken up to one of the spare rooms. "This is yours. Make yourself at home." She smiled nervously up at the man that looked like a slightly younger version of the Robbie Lewis she met 18 years ago. He returned her smile and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks Laura." He stepped into the spare bedroom, and Laura returned downstairs. She slipped into the kitchen and put the kettle on. A few minutes later, Laura and Robbie brought out a pot of tea, five mugs, a cup of milk and some chocolate chip cookies.

Once the adults were all seated around the table, the littl'un clambered up from the floor, where he'd been playing, onto Laura's lap, and began to dunk biscuits in his cup of milk. They chatted about Ken's flight from Australia, and the journey from Manchester. Once they'd finished, Laura and Tim took the lad to the swings down the road, allowing the Lewises to catch up properly.

••••••••

"She really is lovely, dad." Ken smiled at his father. "Aye. That she is." Robbie grinned proudly. "The boy adores her as well." Lyn added, as she collected the mugs from the table. "He's not the only one." Robbie ducked his head shyly and went to the kitchen, before piping up again. "And you can add Monty to that list." His children smiled fondly at their father, and Lyn spoke. "Where is Monty anyway?" He shrugged, and smiled at his daughter. "Dunno. Probably sulking somewhere, because mummy's attention has been diverted away from him. He'll come out of hiding eventually."

The three of them caught up about what had been going on in each other's lives, whilst they began to prepare dinner. An hour or so later, the others returned and they all sat down to eat. After dinner, Lyn's son wanted to go and play in the living room. She lifted him up onto her lap and made a suggestion. "I've got a better idea sweetheart. Granddad, is it alright if we go on a Monty hunt?" "Of course it is pet." At this point, the little boy was wriggling and squealing with excitement, at the prospect of finding the cat. He climbed off of his mum's lap, and tugged at her arm impatiently.

Ten minutes later they came downstairs, the younger of the two looking extremely disappointed. He climbed up on the sofa to join the others and settled on Laura's lap. "I take it you didn't find him?" She directed her question at Lyn, who was just sitting down next to Tim. "We did, but he was curled up asleep on your pillow. He looked far too adorable to wake up." Laura laughed. "Bless him. Looks like this one's heading the same way." Her grandson had curled up on her lap, put his thumb in his mouth and begun to drift off to sleep. "Yeah, we should probably get him to bed. He's been bouncing off the walls with excitement all day." The little family said their good nights to Ken and Laura, and Robbie went to get them settled at his flat. It was agreed that, seeing as he has two bedrooms, they could have the place to themselves, and he and Ken would stay at Laura's. (He was practically living at hers anyway)

Laura turned to Ken who was almost asleep on the sofa. "You look like you could use an early night yourself." He laughed. "I think you might be right. Jet lag's hell. I'll go up and get ready, but I'll wait for dad before I turn in." "Okey doke. Can I get you anything?" "Naah, I'm alright for the minute thanks." They smiled at each other, and he headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Their introduction had gone ahead with far less awkwardness than they both anticipated. In fact, they were getting on like a house on fire, and both felt a bit stupid for worrying so much.

Robbie came back thirty minutes later, and found Laura doing the washing up. He walked up behind her, placed his hands on her hips and kissed her cheek. "Alright love? Where's Ken?" She turned, took his face in her hands and kissed him. When she pulled away, she couldn't help but laugh at his beard of bubbles. "He's upstairs, getting ready for bed. He's been waiting for you before he goes to sleep. So you might want to go and say goodnight. The poor thing's dead on his feet." "Laura Hobson, have you gone soft?" He joked as he kissed her. "Oh, just shut up and go." She shoved him lightly, but her grin gave away her fake anger. Robbie turned around, to find his son standing in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling fondly at the scene he'd just witnessed. "Dad you look ridiculous." He looked in the oven door and laughed. He grabbed the tea towel that Laura was drying her hands with, and wiped his face. "Thanks pet." He said with a chuckle. Laura leant up and wiped the last spot of bubbles from his nose with her thumb, before kissing it softly. "Anyway, I need to get to bed before I fall asleep on your kitchen floor." Ken kissed Laura on the cheek. "Thank you for the warm welcome." "No problem at all. You're always welcome." He walked over and hugged Robbie. "Night dad." "Night Ken." "See you both in the morning."

••••••••

A few hours later, Robbie and Laura decided to go to bed themselves. She lay with her head on his chest, while he gently stroked her hair. "They think you're great, by the way." She tilted her head up to look at him. "Sorry, what was that? I was miles away." He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "The kids, and the bairn. They love you." She grinned. "Well you obviously raised the to make fantastic judgements." He chuckled. "But they really are a credit to you and Val, Robbie. They're wonderful." Robbie pulled her closer to him, and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. "She'd have been so proud of them... I love you." "I love you too." What could have been a very sweet moment between the couple, was interrupted by their cat, Monty, jumping onto the bed and lying down where Laura's head had been resting before she'd lifted it to kiss Robbie. They both laughed, and Laura tickled him under the chin. "Yes, we love you too Monty. And we promise to pay more attention to you tomorrow." This seemed to please the cat, who nuzzled into Robbie's chest as he drifted off to sleep. "Cheeky sod. Goodnight love." She reached her arm around his stomach, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Goodnight Robbie."

Ken, who had gotten up to use the loo just as Laura had mentioned his mum, had stopped outside their bedroom door. He laughed quietly at the exchange between his dad, Laura and Monty, and continued to the bathroom. He was over the moon for his dad. He couldn't have wished for a better woman for Robbie to spend the rest of his life with, and he trusted her completely to take care of him, and give him all of the love that he deserves.


End file.
